Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Stock Price Down 3.2% – Time to Sell?

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)’s stock price was down 3.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $545.19 and last traded at $549.5490. Approximately 42,760 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 329,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $567.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MUSA. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $655.00 to $633.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Murphy USA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $380.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $619.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $550.00 to $625.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.89.

Murphy USA Trading Down 3.0%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77. The business’s 50 day moving average is $576.08 and its 200-day moving average is $520.83. The firm has a market cap of $10.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.28.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.95 by $1.32. The firm had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.03 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.87% and a return on equity of 96.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 36.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.36 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 33.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 24th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 24th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.80%.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total transaction of $1,641,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 53,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,464,487.25. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total value of $555,912.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 3,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,263.52. This represents a 25.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,016 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,098. Insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy USA

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 49,904.6% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 10,410,968 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,610,158,000 after purchasing an additional 10,390,148 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the second quarter worth $915,734,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 149.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 507,418 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $204,753,000 after buying an additional 304,354 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 506,214 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $204,267,000 after buying an additional 7,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 45.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 318,473 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $128,511,000 after buying an additional 99,798 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Murphy USA Company Profile

Murphy USA is a leading downstream marketer of gasoline, diesel and convenience store products in the United States. Headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas, the company was originally established as part of Murphy Oil Corporation and was spun off as an independent public entity in 2013. Since its separation, Murphy USA has focused on retail fueling services and convenience offerings designed to deliver value and convenience to consumers.

The company’s primary operations center on two retail formats.